During an IRONMAN, the things spectators along the course yell at you, the signs you see, and the the mantras you repeat to yourself can significantly impact your race. We chatted with 20 athletes to learn some of the weirdest, funniest, or most inspirational messages that friends, family members, and fellow athletes have shared with them while racing an IRONMAN event.

1) Ryan Hamm, M 18-24 , USA – part of the Coast Guard in North Carolina and races as a member of the US Military Endurance Sports program.

"The funniest, most inspirational thing I've heard while racing is, 'The race has just begun.' The timing of this saying was perfect—about 14 miles into the marathon portion of an IRONMAN. At first I laughed and thought, 'What the heck do you think I've been doing for the past seven plus hours?' Then I realized, 'Hey, they're right. Just forget about everything you've done, and all the pain. It's just a half marathon. No biggie.'"

"The story that sticks with me was during the 2016 IRONMAN North American Championship. I was about 10 miles into the run (right before the monsoon that stopped us in our tracks for 30 minutes), and I was struggling, so I grabbed a drink at an aid station and was walking slowly. This volunteer came up to me and was super positive, encouraging, and doing everything he could to get me going. 'Hey man, you’re almost there!' 'You are doing great!' 'What do you need?' 'Are you OK?' 'You are awesome,' etc. I was thanking him and he was walking alongside me the whole time, just never giving up and wanting me to start running. He was saying things like, 'You’ll make it, trust me.' I think he believed I was a first-timer, so eventually he said, 'I’ve done an IRONMAN and I know you can. Is this your first race?' I responded, 'Nope, this is number ten.'

Maybe it was the combination of his being tired, standing in the pouring rain, and the amount of effort he put into encouraging me, but I think he felt a little duped after I said that. He (gently) shoved me forward and yelled, 'OMG, screw you! Get outta here!' and stormed back to the aid station (laughing the whole time). It was so spontaneous and from the heart that I started howling in laughter—and it got me running again."

"The last time I did Kona was in 1991, when I was 25. I still remember this vividly.I had just got up onto the Queen K on the run (about mile seven) and this local was sitting on a wall with a big straw hat on and he said, 'Run on the white line brodda, it’s cooler.'

He was right—my feet stopped burning so much and I felt a little better. I still do that if I’m racing in a hot race on dark blacktop."

5) Teri Benart-Abrahamzon, F 60-64, USA – races with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Team in Training, on behalf of three women warriors: Lindy, Tina, and Stacie.

"My son was my Sherpa at my first IRONMAN in Arizona in 2014. Just before I hit the second loop of the run, he said to me, 'You call that running? Step it up, buttercup. It's amazing that you're doing this, and you're almost done. So proud of you. Love you.'"

"On the midpoint of the second loop at this year's IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship, when beginning the last hill climb while running on fumes and desperately digging deep, an old frail lady sitting on her porch yelled at me in a strong southern accent, 'You better git runnin’ faster than that to git the heck out of my neighborhood, boy!'

I totally broke out in laughter and powered up that hill, fortunately avoiding her wrath.

Side note: I loved the committed Chattanooga spectators and community supporting the race. It was my favorite thus far of the IRONMAN races. As it was race number three of four in as many weeks for Chattanooga, it is no wonder why Tennessee is the 'volunteer' state."

7) Jose Manuel Costa Milan, M 40-44, ESP — raced Kona this year as part of the IRONMAN Legacy program.

"The best phrase I heard and I always carry in my head: 'Always finish.'"

8) Chad Albright, M 45-49, USA, — physician and father of two.

"In Kona, 2015, I was at mile 14-ish on the Queen K. At this point I was down to a shuffle and I heard a guy behind me talking. I thought it was one of the other athletes passing me, when out of the corner of my eye a flip-flop came into view.

It was a drunk guy, pedaling a rusted beach cruiser, trying to keep it upright and moving forward. His skin was burnt to a crisp and had the look of a guy who lives on the beach. He looked at me and said, '.3%...[a few second pause]… .3%, mother f-er.' I had no idea what he was talking about.

He continued, 'Do you realize you are in the top .3% of all people in the world? You are awesome!' I chuckled and gasped out a 'thanks.' He passed me and rode up to the next guy, 10 feet in front of me, looked at him, and started in with another, '.3%.'

Not 1%, not 3%, but he randomly chose .3%. I thought it was pretty funny."

9) Corey Nygaard, M 18-24, USA, three-time IRONMAN finisher.

"The one thing I never forget out on course is, 'Roger that.' It’s the mentality that you have to do the best with what is given to you—and kill it!"

10) George Beecher, M 40-44, ZAF, — cracked a rib surfing Namibia’s Skeleton Bay, but still managed to qualify for Kona this year.

"While racing the IRONMAN African Championship in 2013, with severe ITB syndrome, I knew I wouldn't (and shouldn't) be racing—and so I decided to push the swim to try to come out first in my age group. (I thought I was leading, but some kid ending up stealing my glory!)

Anyway, the first bike lap seemed tough—like when you think your brakes are rubbing the rim, which the rear brake ended up being. I had changed a flat on race morning and pushed the caliper onto the rim by accident. After fixing that, I was distracted with wondering if it was a sign to pull out. I was so distracted that I looked up and saw an aid station, and in a panic moment I pushed out from my aero position, only to knock the bars and end up crashing at 26 mph, sliding into the pavement. Road-rashed and with a pedal dug into my leg, and literally a few hundred meters walk back to transition, I said: 'I'm done.'

An aid station volunteer came running over (I assumed to help me), held out a water bottle, and asked, 'Is this what you wanted?'

I laughed, he laughed, and I took the bottle, picked up my bike, got back on, and raced on. The surrounding crowd pumped me up even more, as they went from hushing to cheering me for getting back on my horsie! Hopefully this gives some folks the belief to never, ever quit."

11) Matt Britton, M 30-34, USA—a healthcare professional.

"The one thing that sticks out to me is seeing a sign on the side of the road on the toughest parts of the course that said: 'PR or ER.' I took that to heart and repeated it multiple times—it became my mantra for the rest of race, and I ended up getting on the podium and punching my ticket to the IRONMAN World Championship!"

12) Steven Nurse, M 40-44, AUS—started running six years ago for fitness, and a few years later took up triathlon.

"Getting off the bike to hear someone say to me, 'Now the easy part—just a marathon to go.' Only a marathon.

At the recent IRONMAN 70.3 Mooloolaba, I saw a spectator’s sign that read: 'I don’t do triathlons, I do triathletes.' This was on the run leg and definitely made me laugh a little during the hard time right before the hill."

13) Steve Pulver, M 60-64, USA—sales manager who tackled his third race in Kona this year.

"During IRONMAN Kona one year, I was in the mix for the podium and about a half mile from the finish, my demure, non-competitive wife (who never pushes me) yelled at me, 'YOU NEED TO RUN FASTER, HE IS BEATING YOU!'

Another time, we had met a challenged athlete on the plane to Honu, and spent some time with him. When I finished the race with a very poor swim, my wife reminded both of us that the 'one-armed man' had beaten me in the swim. The three of us had a good laugh."

14) Kat Zeiler, F 45-49, USA—a teacher who has been working toward a Kona qualification since 2008.

"My partner often yells, 'Drop the piano, Zeiler!' I've also seen some amazing posters. My favorite read: 'IRONMAN—the only race where pooping is ok.'"

15) Steve Nutley, M 50-54, FJI—an IRONMAN Legacy athlete who, due to a nagging Achilles injury, is only able to run once a month.

"The first IRONMAN that my son, who was five at the time, saw me complete in was Zurich. I came in about 1,000th. It was a miserable day with hail, rain, and cold.

When I finished, my son's first words to me were, 'Dad, you didn't win.' He evidently had high expectations, perhaps because up until then he had seen me compete against non-athletes in Albania, where we had been living at the time.

He then asked if I would compete in another IRONMAN. On being told yes (not always my response immediately after a race), he asked if I would win next time. On being told no, he pursued this line of questioning further. 'But there is a chance you will win?' To which I responded, 'Only if one thousand or so athletes who were faster than me did not take part.'

A huge smile lit his face. His dad was going to win...."

16) TJ Nuccio, M 35-39, USA—business owner.

"The funniest thing I often hear during the bike is, 'I’ll see you on the run.' Usually seriously delivered by an overly competitive competitor, losing focus on their own race."

17) Sue Pope, F 55-59 (USA)—and IRONMAN Gold All World Athlete.

"The funniest things my mother said: 'I can’t believe you’re doing that. Don’t end up like that girl [Julie Moss] who crawled to the finish line.' Friends have said, 'Why would anyone want to be out there that long?' My husband said, "You say you are having fun!' And on the run in Kona, another athlete said to me, 'You’re keeping a good pace; I will stay with you.'"

18) Claire Pople, F 35-39 (ZAF)—seven-time IRONMAN finisher.

"I was racing IRONMAN 70.3 Sunshine Coast recently and was passing some guy on the bike and asked him how the view was. He was behind a guy whose tri suit was so see-through—like unbelievably see-through. So I asked the guy how his view was, we both laughed pretty hard. I carried on riding, chuckling to myself, trying to mask the pain on the ride."

"The most motivating thing I have heard from a fellow athlete was from the blog of a guy who finished sixth (one place and 23 seconds ahead of me) at IRONMAN UK in 2014, and who took the final Kona spot in our age group. He wrote (of me):

The guy in 7th is frustrated, annoyed, regretful and faces at least 5-6 months of hard training before he can try again. It will likely be a lot longer. His mind is full of "if onlys" and he probably sat there at the roll-down hoping for a slot to roll only to see all 6 be snapped up in front of him. The disappointment of the day itself where he hurt himself harder than he hurt before compounded by a restless night’s sleep and then the huge disappointment of a roll-down ceremony where it didn’t happen. He has to explain to people that he didn’t get a slot. Over and over. After all that training. All those early morning sessions. All that sacrifice. I’ve been in his shoes and it hurts…He may never qualify. He feels like it’s his nemesis. The holy grail. I don’t know the guy in 7th but I feel like I know him. Many of you reading this (assuming you’ve got this far) know the man in 7th because you’ve been there. Those same people have also qualified. I missed out in 2004 by 16 seconds and it haunted me for years.

Those words haunted and motivated me right through to when I qualified in June of this year!"

20) Dexter Yeats, F 70-74, USA—a triathlete since 1983 who raced her first IRONMAN and earned her first of many Kona qualifications in 1993.

"As an older IRONMAN competitor, the most inspiring thing for me to hear was from my grandson. He yelled, 'Go Grandma!' That put a smile on my face. Later he told me that everyone around him asked, "Is that your grandmother?' He proudly said, 'Yes!'"

XTERRA is the Official Stand Up Paddle Board Supplier of the IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 North America Series, including the IRONMAN World Championship and 2017 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship.